By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) – A federal judge ruled on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully terminated a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program designed to ‍protect states and communities against natural disasters before they occur.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston sided with 20 mostly Democratic-led states in finding that the Republican president’s administration lacked authority to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and use money Congress approved to support it for ‌other purposes.

The agency, which is part of the ‌U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announced in April it would end the program, calling it wasteful, ineffective and politicized.

But Stearns, who was appointed by Democ

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